VIDEO: A family of five has been displaced due to a fire early Wednesday morning that destroyed their far west Bexar County home. The fire, which sent huge flames and smoke into the air in the area near Loop 1604 and Potranco Road, also may have claimed the family's pet dog. According to Bexar County firefighters, it was that dog's barking that alerted the people to the fire around 4:30 a.m. Fire crews arrived and quickly went on the attack. "The initial crews arrived on scene to heavy fire in the rear of the structure," said Capt. Salvador Butcher with Bexar County ESD #2. "When we tried to go in and put the fire out, we were met with heavy fire." Crews had to make a quick retreat and fight the fire strictly from the outside. With the help of an aerial ladder truck, they were able to extinguish the fire after about an hour.  

VIDEO: In two recent mass casualty events, the San Antonio Fire Department's AMBUS has been utilized to help first responders. San Antonio Fire Department responded to the Quintana Road tragedy after dozens of migrants were found in a tractor-trailer and the mass shooting in Uvalde. "Once crews got (to Quintana Road), they realized there was multiple victims. They found the door to the truck partially open to open it up and found, well, we are all familiar with what they found now," said Joe Arrington, public information officer for SAFD. More than 60 firefighters, 20 fire engines, 10 medical units, and SAFD's ambulance bus, or AMBUS, descended onto Quintana Road on June 27 when dozens of people were found dead and many others with heat-related illnesses in the back of an 18-wheeler.  

PHOTO: Firefighters were at the Texas World Speedway Tuesday night into Wednesday morning battling a large fire that was likely started by fireworks. South Brazos County Fire Department Chief Harvie Cheshire says a pile of tires and approximately two acres of land burned inside the speedway oval. "It took our crews almost an hour to contain the fire and two and a half hours to extinguish it," said Chief Cheshire. It's unclear who is responsible for the fireworks but there are no trespassing signs at the speedway. "There was evidence of discharged fireworks within 15 feet of the area that burned and it is determined to be the possible cause of the fire," said Chief Cheshire. The College Station Fire Department assisted on this call by sending a 3,000-gallon water tender truck to help put the fire out.  

Firefighters are continuing to battle a large grass fire between Iowa Park and Electra. Fire officials said the blaze's forward progress has been stopped temporarily. The fire was estimated at 3,500 acres and 45% contained at 10 a.m., according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. Firefighters are expected to be on-site for the next few days. The fire is burning in a largely ranch/oil land with mesquite thicket and grass. Fire officials are hopeful that thunderstorms may help put out the fire, but they're also concerned about dry lightning strikes and erratic winds that may push the fire in another direction. The fire temporarily closed U.S. 287 on Wednesday between Harmony Road to FM 2384. The highway has since reopened, according to TxDOT. The Wichita West Volunteer Fire Department said the fire started on FM 367, between Old Electra Rd and FM 2384.  

A church in Deep East Texas is a total loss after a fire. It turns out a broken fire hydrant contributed to that loss. The fire broke out at Triumphant Life Church in Hudson last week. Firefighters kept running out of water while fighting the fire. "One of the issues that we had with this fire is that we kept running out of water. There is a hydrant that is just a couple hundred feet from where we are standing, and it has been out of service for some time," Hudson Fire Marshal Joe Burton said. Before services started, the pastor opened the doors and found the church was filled with smoke. President and manager of Hudson Water Supply, James Young, says the closest hydrant wasn't working because of a broken stem. Young says the company said there had to be a certain number of hydrants out for them to come fix the problem.  

Ten fire departments, The Texas Forest Service, Henderson County Fire Marshal and EMS have responded to a vast grass fire on FM 2709. As of 7:30 p.m. the fire is 95 percent contained as confirmed by a drone, the county says. The fire is between Eustace and Highway 19. Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said at 7:15 p.m. that the forest service tractors were creating a path around the fire and that the spread appeared to be contained. Henderson County Sheriff's Office is flying its drone over the area to survey the fire from above, the county says. According to Henderson County, the fire is currently estimated to be between 50 and 100 acres. To help visualize 100 acres, that would equate to about 75 standard football fields. An evacuation area was set up in the Eustace High School Gym parking lot. The Red Cross responded.  

A fireworks explosion in front of a suburban home during the July Fourth holiday that caused young children and adults to flee was caught on security video. The blast occurred during a celebration as they were attempting to light fireworks on a front lawn. As the fireworks light up, a blast is seen going in all directions, prompting adults to grab the children and move for cover. One shell appears to cause a fire in the driveway near a parked vehicle. That, in turn, lights up a box of fireworks nearby, causing an explosion. Multiple explosions are then seen and smoke fills the air. The family is seen running away from the scene, leaving chairs and other belongings in their path. On Wednesday, SimpliSafe, the home security system that captured the incident, tweeted about the incident to dispel rumors that it was planned.  

PHOTOS: Just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dan Naughton stood atop a 6,000-pound truck holding a bucket of water. Moments earlier, it had been filled by firefighters from the hose of a smaller truck. Naughton faced the crowd beneath him, and slowly emptied the bucket into the truck's 500-gallon tank. As the last droplet trickled out, onlookers cheered, and Naughton – a Palm Beach County Fire Rescue driver – smiled back. He climbed down from Truck 29, the newest and largest unit in the county's fleet, and rejoined the crowd to celebrate the vehicle officially entering the service. "The transfer of water shows the continuation of pride, service, knowledge and tradition," Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Captain Tom Reyes said. "(We're) making sure that our original mission continues, and the lessons learned while serving on past apparatus remain with us through the future."  

VIDEO: A Chicago woman is expressing her gratitude to members of the Cambridge Fire Department Dive Team and Marine Unit after they helped find her diamond ring that fell into the Charles River in Massachusetts. Cambridge Fire Lt. Stephen Capuccio said those Dive Team and Marine Unit members were working a detail on the Charles River on Sunday when they were alerted about a lost ring at the Charlesgate Yacht Club. Lynn Andrews said her diamond ring went overboard into the Charles a while after asking her husband, Ninos, to hold onto it. "I decided that I'm going to put some sunscreen on and I ask my husband to hold my rings, and I just put them in the pocket of his shirt," Andrews said. "We're going about our day and it was awfully hot out there, and he decides to take his shirt off to go for a swim. And as he took his shirt off, the rings went flying out of his pocket."  

Goshen Township Administrator Steve Pegram held a press conference Thursday after a tornado touched down Wednesday, damaging multiple buildings and knocking down trees. On Wednesday, Pegram declared a state of emergency for Goshen Township. A preliminary National Weather Service survey Thursday declared the tornado was an EF2 tornado. EF0 is the mildest ruling and EF5 is the most severe. EF2 tornadoes contain 111 to 135 mph winds. An EF2 tornado was on the ground around 2:30 p.m., according to Doppler radar. Two people were injured as a result of the storm, though Pegram said there are no serious injuries. "At this time, only two confirmed injuries — that's a blessing," Pegram said. "One was a firefighter injured by a chainsaw, transported to a hospital likely for stitches. One was a citizen, injured by falling debris — conscious, alert."  

Members of the Perham Fire Department take their commitment to life-saving quite seriously — so much so that they began a fitness initiative in early 2022 to improve their overall health. As a part of this initiative, five firefighters will be competing in the Firefighter Challenge in Bismarck, N.D. on July 15 and 16. "They call (the Firefighter Challenge) the toughest two minutes in sports," said Dan Kenyon, member of the Perham Fire Department and competitor. "It literally taxes your body in pretty much every way possible." Kenyon will be competing alongside his fellow Perham Fire Department members: Clayton Troutman, Jake Huebsch, Cody Arth, and Ted Tulibaski. On Friday, July 15, they'll compete individually, and on Saturday, July 16, they'll compete in tandems and teams. The challenge consists of competitors donning their "full bunker gear" and the Air-Pak breathing apparatus, which is what they'd wear when fighting a real fire.